Gabon
Gabon is a country of 2.3 million located on the Equator, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west. With an area of 267,668 km², the country is somewhat larger than the United Kingdom, or slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Colorado. Gabon has a population of estimated 1.5 million people - many of which who live in the capital and largest city of Libreville, where the spoken languages are French (official) and a variety of Bantu languages. Because of its oil and mineral reserves and a relatively small population, Gabon has gained wealth in recent years - but income inequality remains an issue. More than 10% of Gabon's area is protected parkland, and there are 13 National Parks around the country - with Lopé National Park noted as being one of the region's best destinations. Gabon is home to many must-visit wonders and plenty of incredible landscapes - let's take a look at some of Gabon's most beautiful sights in today's update.
We'll begin our tour of Gabon in the country's coastal capital city of Libreville. As seen below, its seafront boulevard has many parks and sculptures, and the National Museum of Arts and Tradition exhibits tribal crafts such as masks and wood-carved artifacts. Nearby, the colossal Presidential Palace dates from the 1970s and is one of the country's most iconic sights - and the Mont-Bouët open-air market sells a wide range of goods, from household items and local produce to traditional medicine. This bustling and lively city is a must-visit destination for anyone traveling through the area.
Gabon's other major coastal city is Port-Gentil - the country's second largest city and leading seaport. Port-Gentil is at the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries, and is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta with no bridges to the mainland. It's also located on the Cape Lopez peninsula, the country's westernmost point, and due to its strategic geographical location, has remained an important trading center in the area for decades.
A close up look at one of Port Gentil's numerous timber yards and countless timber rafts along the city's shallow, swampy coastline.
We now travel into the county's densely forested interior to get a look at some of Gabon's most beautiful natural sights. While Gabon's rain forests are among some of the world's most intact, they've still been under threat from logging and slash and burn operations in recent years. However, in 2019, the country received a large $150 million rainforest preservation investment - so hopefully the country will be able to win the ongoing fight against logging. It's especially important considering some of Gabon's most beautiful and majestic sights can only be found deep in the heart of the rain forest - but for the adventurous tourist or native, the trip will be worth it. The Djidji Waterfalls in the heart of Ivindo National Park are among the country's most famous sights and have amazed the locals here for centuries.
Our look at Gabon concludes with a stop at the famous Lopé National Park. No other area in the region is considered more vital for primates than Lopé National Park, the oldest and one of the most astounding biospheres on the continent. A vital refuge to over 1400 endangered mandrills as well as 420 bird species, the national park is equally a stronghold for sun-tailed guenon, black colobus, and others who thrive in the forest gallery and fingers of lush, misty savannah — interacting landscapes that were created at the end of the last Ice Age almost 12,000 years ago. Bordered by two tributaries of the Ogooué - Lopé also served as an ancient trade and migration corridor for pygmy tribes. Today, the Ogooué River Valley’s deep ridges and forest gallery is a veritable hot spot for prehistoric antiquities and rich, tribal culture. So much, the recent discovery of over 1800 Iron-Age petroglyphs and scant traces of Stone-Age and Iron-Age settlements and artifacts revealed just how significant the region was to human evolution over the past 400,000 years.
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-korver
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